The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-02
ALL SORTS OF MISTAKES.
ERRORS OF VISION, SPEECH, HEAR
ING, MEMORY AND JUDGMENT.


A cey Depew-spoiling an Orators Re-
IA marks.
M From the Netc Yorjs SIR.
There is good deal of uniformity in tho
,,istakes that people make. For instance, a
havre number of persons every year put
Netters in the post Office without postage
S+onps, or without addresses, or with wrong
Il ddresses. Such mistakes are SO common
That various expedients have become neces-
8 Eary to correct them. Among these are the
Drinting of the names of the senders on the
outside, the short postage stamp, and the
Xbulk of the work of the Dead Letter Office.
N Mistakes in drawing law papers are SO
&common that the newest codes make pro-
vision for them. Thus, in some cases, where
~ affidavit has been sworn to before a
notary or magistrate, and the afhant has
Neglected to affix his signature, the law pro-
S%yides that the paper shall not be invalid.
8RThere is a well-settied principle of law that
i man cannot take advantage of his own
prror. If this were not so it would be
& POSSIBLE to invalidate almost any proceeding
4 NV errors.
i2operation many criminals escaped by means
vi technical errors of police court clerks
who. in the hurry of business, were apt to
make technical errors, of which criminal
LAWYERS would take advantage But many
al these probable errors were provided
#against in the new code.
III THE mistakes that travellers are apt to
make in getting out at the wrong station or
'4passing their stations are guarded against
NV the practice of calling out the names of
stations
III Mistakes of hearing are many and vexa-
&tious. Few persons can pronounce the let
'Hels NJ and n separately SO as to make it
certain which is used. This is recognized
among printers, who when the question is
RAISED will say, IN for nuts" Among
4 Among stenographers the mistakes of hear
Linz are diligently guarded against by close
ATTENTION to the context, by means Of which
.hnanv errors of hearing are detected. Long
practice will give stenographer great skill
6n this respect. The mistakes that young
phonographers make, who write from sound
Regardless of sense, are often very ludicrous.
Mistakes of speech are very common.
Thus in law case counsel frequently say
plaintiff when they mean defendant They
Twill say Mr.. Jones when they mean Mrs.
Jones. The mind works SO rapidly in both
speaking and reading that words of similar
appearance or sound are frequently used for
one another Thoughts follow one another
SO rapidly that they often appear to over
take one another so that one which should
be spoken last is uttered first. If thought
is uppermost in the mind of any one, it is
probable that it will find utterance at some
most inopportune time and place. Thus,
what are called absent-minded people are
those who are so absorbed with one idea
that they become oblivious to surroundings
and keep attention riveted upon that idea,
no matter how vexatious may be the result
This state of mind, while it is characteristic
of great genius, and is necessary to attain
perfection in any art or science, gives rise
to many ludicrous results, and is largely
used for the funny characters of fiction
Balzac makes a naturalist in love speak of
the skin of his lady love thus: Her
epidermis was of that velvety texture that
envelopes the finest fruits.
The funny lovers of comedy comprise
many whose scientific bent is constantly
brought in sharp contrast with ''spooning."
An analogous Illustration is that of young
Sothern's latest funny man, who is at once
an auctioneer and and lover, and through
out the play makes a constantly ludicrous
juxtaposition of the two characters all
growing out of laughable mistakes.
Mistakes of vision are many. We think
we see many things which we do not see, or
which we see but partially. The stories of
mistaken identity are as old as the world.
Shakespeare's Two Dromios are reproduced
every day The law books are full of cases
where men have sworn that strangers were
their wives or women have sworn that
strangers were their husbands. All sorts of
martyrdom have been suffered by people
who have had the misfortune either to look
like bad people OF to be mistaken for them.
Twins have from time immemorial played
FRANKS with their friends and enjoyed their
discontinue There was once waiter at
Demonico's who bore such strong re-
SeInblance to Chauncey Depew that one
night, when Chauncey failed to attend at
tho |,
well-known, a waS brought in the waiter,
and the members eheered him several min
uteS before the joke was discovered. A man
who looks like Jay Gould or Barnum or DR..
Ialmage, or any other well-known person,
soon finds life u burden in constant neces-
atty for explaining mistakes.
Mistakes of printers are proverbial, but;
many II not most of them are traceable to
Dad copy, Some years ago, when the late
James Watson Webb was editor of the
Courier and Enquirer, he had a verbal set
TO- with Theodore E. Tomlinson, then a
lively practising lawyer with strong
interest in politics. The editor had con-
aderably the advantage of the lawyer in
having his newspaper at command. Tom
InSon ON one occasion determined to give
the editor shot, and fixed up a speech for
d public meeting on the Battery One
paragraph of this speech was particularly
severe, and the point of it was that Mr.
Iomlinson insinuated that his opponent had
cone certain things, by a series of allega-
IONS that he, Tomlinson, had not done them.
One OF Mr.. Tominson's sentences was this;
never crawled ON my belly to secure a
pride" But in the Herald of the next day
mr. Iomlnson was represented as saying,
never crawled on my belly to secure a
wife OF course Mr.. Tomlinson was
furious, and he went to the Herald office to
blow up the reporter. But his chagrin and
defeat may be imagined when the fact is
recorded that he was confronted with his
own manuscript, where he had written the
word "bribe" in such way that the
printer was quite justified in making it
Mistakes of architects and engineers are
sometimes costly. An illustration is seen in
tne difference between the two big Wander
gHt grain elevators at the North River
Uepct One was built broadside to the
stream The other, ut about the same cost,
WIS built with the end to the stream on a
per, 50 that vessels rlay come up simult-
aleously on both Sides The position Of the
iISI one was "a costly mistake
OId Commodore Vanderbilt was n shrewd
ma. nan when looking at any new-fashioned
sulLS. Once man came to him with a
LLSylce Tor manufacturing fresh water on
ooara ship out of salt water. Part of the
appartus was donkey engine to pump the
~; ga water in. The Commodore said to the